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How To Invest In The Most Critical Resource On The Planet

People want gold and oil. These commodities have long been
synonymous with wealth.

But they need water. It's something every one of the world's seven
billion-plus inhabitants needs every day for basic survival.

In the not too distant future, the wealth of some nations could be
measured more by water than crude.

Drought-ravaged regions around the world are wrestling overwater
rights , rationing and other suchissues .

Few people realize it, but drinking, bathing and other residential
uses account for only about a tenth of all water consumption.
Industrial applications use twice as much. And a whopping 70% of
consumption is channeled toward agricultural uses.
It takes 1,000 tons of water to produce just one ton of
grain.

There isn't always enough to go around, and water resource
management is becoming a majorissue -- one that spells opportunity
for investors.

Consolidated Water Company (Nasdaq:
CWCO
)
has a tight grip on water distribution throughout half a dozen
Caribbean nations. The company was granted its first public utility
license in 1979 to serve residential and commercial customers in
the Cayman Islands. In the past decade, a series of acquisitions
has expanded the base of operations from Belize to Bermuda.

In the Bahamas, Consolidated Water owns and operates a massive
desalination complex with the capacity to produce 12 million
gallons of pure drinking water per day. The company also has a
stake in an affiliate that supplies water to the governments of
Tortola and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

Combined, the firm manages 14 desalination plants throughout the
region that pipe 26.8 million gallons of clean water each day to
homes, businesses, resorts and government-owned utilities.

Consolidated Water is one of the world's most experienced
practitioners of seawater reverse osmosis technology. In comparison
to the traditional thermal distillation process, seawater reverse
osmosis is a radically different way to extract salt.

The process removes salt from water by pressurizing saltwater and
then passing it through a special filter that doesn't let the salt
through.

The end result is the same. But seawater reverse osmosis is
preferable from aninvestment standpoint over distillation, because
the process is more energy efficient, which means lower costs (and
wider profits) for every gallon of water produced.

Consolidated Water doesn't spend too much time worrying about
demand or searching for new customers. Why would you, when you're
the only one selling a product that everybody is buying?

As with other public utilities, Consolidated Water enjoys amonopoly
throughout most of its territory. The company supplies 100% of the
potable water in the Cayman Islands, where it has four water sale
agreements that cover more than 10 million gallons per day. The
same is true on the resort island of Ambergris Cay off the coast of
Belize -- it's the only game in town.

In the past five years, Consolidated Water has been collecting
approximately $55 million in annualrevenue . About 40% of the
proceeds come from retail customers, while larger bulk accounts
represent the remaining 60%.

Through the first nine months of 2012,
revenue is tracking 17% ahead of last year's pace. Gross
profits are up 14% to $16.6 million.

That growing income stream is putting morecash in stockholders'
pockets. The company is currently dishing out quarterly payments of
7.5 cents per share, for an annual distribution of 30 cents. At
today's prices, thestock is throwing off a tidy 3.8%yield .

And there is enough left over to support businesses development
activities in the thirsty Baja California Peninsula in western
Mexico. Looking ahead, the company is also exploring potential
markets in southeast Asia. These expansions should help drive cash
flows (and dividends) higher down the line.

Now, there is noguarantee that the company's franchise licenses or
water supply agreementswill be renewed in the future.

But steady water salesvolume and contractual pass-through rate
hikes should make for highly visible and predictable cash flows.
And the penetration of new markets should keep distributions
growing in the future.

Action to Take -->
I think this undervalued stock could hit $9 a share in the coming
year, which added to the 4% yield could give investors a total
return of more than 20%. That's an attractive proposition in this
shakymarket .

-- Nathan Slaughter

P.S. -- We're in a new era of scarcity. Around the world,
literally billions of people are all fighting for the same limited
resources... which has created a big opportunity to profit. Gains
of up to 8,000% have been made in the past decade from Scarcity
& Real Wealth, but I think that's just the beginning. I just
finished several research reports detailing how you get bigger
gains right now. To access them, click here.

Nathan Slaughter does not personally hold positions in any
securities mentioned in this article. StreetAuthority LLC owns
shares of CWCO in one or more of its "real money" portfolios.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

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